Resurrected it. Haven't been on a bike without an engine in it for years, I'm tired of turning into an unfit blob three weeks after the rugby season finishes and jumping on the treadly instead of going for a run is going to be a better option for my decidedly average knees.Half a tub of HTB grease, several rags, nearly a full can each of Inox and brake cleaner and a lot of fiddling and I have myself a serviceable piece of crap MTBSO. The rear wheel's slightly bent and the suspension's seized, but it'll do until I can afford something decent.

I went out and rode the Railton to Sheffield (Northern Tasmanian) rail trail.

It wasn't a bad day for it, but I didn't see a single cyclist, pedestrian or horse rider on the entire return journey. Guess it's just not the time of year for it - the trail was pretty boggy near the rifle range at the Sheffield end.

Removed the 30mm of spacers on my Giant endurance bike to see if it makes any difference to feel. No problems on the first commute this morning. Although the fork looks like it's 1mm looser than it should be fitting under the bottom of the head tube. Will pop into the LBS and get them to cast an eye over it.

When you are driving your car, you are not stuck IN traffic - you ARE the traffic!!!

idiotically tried to carry a steel sign a short distance on my bike. turned a corner, bike went one way, sign another and into rear spokes, then the seat stay. bike is no more.

bought a replacement - 2015 Madone. a bit scrappy but mechanically good. it belonged to a young gun who has presumably moved onto something newer and shinier. since the weekend I've:- fit my quarq power meter, replacing the quarq that it came with (but defective).- tuned the FD, as my quarq seems to have different spacing (more shims) and is mid-compact instead of standard.- performed a 10 speed conversion, as all my good wheels are 10 speed freewheels. this involves taking 1 cog out and putting the redundant spacer behind the cassette, then tuning the derailleur.- adjusted the brakes, which were both poorly adjusted (lever action almost back to bars).- switched my 6700 rear brake blocks for the 6800 ones, which have a different grub screw position and won't accept my 6700-compatible carbon pads (I could have drilled the pads out, easier to swap brake blocks). noticed that previous owner had positioned the block washers in the wrong order, and one washer was missing.- adjusted seat height, added carbon paste to bone dry seat/post interface (although at least it wasn't seized)

Surreptitiously fitted my unauthorised wiggle purchase Zondas onto the Ribble 7005.The delivery text arrived on my phone this morning and I snuck down and picked them up, fitted tyres and cassette and put them on. Chopped up the box and packaging and placed it in the bottom of the wheelie bin which goes out tomorrow.Hung the bike back on the rack in the garage.I may survive. No more for a while now

Took the zondas out for a roll today. They are very good. You can buy racing zeros which are less than 100 grams a pair lighter, but they are twice the price and have thick aluminium spokes that look draggy to me. I wonder if they are any better? Zondas get the tick of approval from me anyway.

Last edited by warthog1 on Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, yesterday... Put new elastomers in the old Manitou forks I have so I could get that bike off the work stand and then moved on to stripping down my cracked MTB frame so I can reuse the good parts on another cheaper bike. Should be able to knock off about 3-4kg off the cheaper bike with the decent wheels, and bling bits.

bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

On Tuesday I serviced (basically cleaned and lubed) my CAADX CX bike - also removed the winter fenders and associated gunk build-up. Yesterday took it for a 100k ride up the Warby trail and back home, and it went really well. 6 years and 42,500 kms up and plenty of life in the old rig yet I hope.

Today I'm tweaking my newer Synapse for Sunday's ATB - an extra small spacer under the stem, bars turned up a fraction, and replacing the 25s with new Conti GP4S 28s on my best wheels.

Looking forward to that predicted NE tail wind down to Sorrento. Hoping the wind will drop a little on the way back though !

Adjusted the rear derailer so i can now select the big cog again, was working great till the other weekend i replaced the tyre on the rear, when i refitted the wheel wasnt changing as smoothly and couldnt select the large cog.

Dont think i knocked or moved the derailer, but anyways think i got it all sorted again now, just gotta wait till i can get out for a quick test ride.

I added a 5m spacer to my stem and gave the bike a clean and lube in preparation for the ATB this Sunday. I may commute in tomorrow, which means my OCD will play havoc over the smallest amount of dirt on it and then I'll need to clean it again on Saturday.

Swapped out the -8 degree stem for a -17 on the ribble 7005 courtesy of ebay.I then measured it up alongside the S5.The ribble now has a 5 mm larger saddle/bar drop but a 5 mm shorter reach. Close enough for me Swapped out the 1 ride old rear gp4000s for a rubino pro. I'll save the 4000s for the front or use it in the rear at a later date. I'll see how the rubino pro goes wear, grip and puncture resistance wise.4000S are my go to tyre for all around performance but the rubino pro is half the price

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